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I planned on building a masonry wall but, I have never installed block before. Since I planned on filling the cells, can I dry stack with shims and once the concrete is set, mortar the joints.
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What size wall? What footing? Rebar? Type of backfill, and what are you holding back--passive ground, an active roadway, etc?
I wouldn't want to drystack and try to later fill joints and remove shims.
Depending on size of wall, etc, you may want to look into mortarless alternatives, such as Mesa blocks or Allen (sp?) blocks. The material supplier can help engineer the footing and backfill requirements for you.
*Retaining walls that are constructed like the foundation walls of a home are pretty much guaranteed to fail. Solid, dry set blocks specifically for retaining walls, are normally approved to a maximum of 4 feet high. Beyond that you will likely be looking at a stepped back method of construction or, if a vertical wall is required, reinforced concrete or reinforced concrete block in either a gravity or cantilever design. Randy R.
*While visiting California (Monterey/Carmel) I saw a neat retaining wall put up by the highway department.Steel I-beams set into the ground like posts and heavy wooden beams (assuming they are pressure treated 6x6 or 8x8) dropped into the channels horizontally and stacked. Very simple but highly effective.Except for accuretely setting up the I-beams the rest seems like a breeze.The I-beams, however, may have been made for such use, with deeper sections to prevent any chance of the wood beams from popping out under heavy loading.They appeared to be off-the-shelf I-beams to me.After looking into retaining wall choices I pay attention to any alternative that comes along.
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I planned on building a masonry wall but, I have never installed block before. Since I planned on filling the cells, can I dry stack with shims and once the concrete is set, mortar the joints.
You could, but mortar ends up being easier. It allows you to quickly level each course.
If you really want to dry-stack the block, set a footing, then mortar the first course of block to get it really flat. Dry stack with masonry adhesive, then fill the cells. My brother is a mason (I used to be one), and this is what he has his guys do. He usually sticks veneer stone to that - dry stack block looks pretty bad (my opinion).